


Pirates Don't Cry

by ColonelLilith



Category: Dimension 20 (Web Series), Fantasy High
Genre: Angst, Fabian needs a hug, Gen, Heart-to-Heart, Mostly Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-20
Updated: 2019-12-20
Packaged: 2021-02-26 19:07:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21873571
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ColonelLilith/pseuds/ColonelLilith
Summary: He was Fabian Aramais Seacaster. Heir to the Seacaster name. Destined to be the greatest pirate who ever sailed. Without that, he was nothing. Just the boy who led twenty men to their deaths, who stabbed the only creature who would have stood by him.OR Fabian is sad, Cathilda brings him soup. Thing are not fixed, but they are better.
Relationships: Cathilda & Fabian Aramais Seacaster
Comments: 1
Kudos: 30





	Pirates Don't Cry

**Author's Note:**

> This is like two weeks too late, but every week is loving and supporting Fabian week. It is also not good, but what can you do. Cathilda could kill me, and I'd 100% believe it was justified.

They were dead because of him. He, Fabian Aramais Seacaster, had done the heroic thing, the thing that any pirate would have done. And then he ran because he couldn’t hack it. Because he wasn’t good enough. If that wasn’t enough, he’d fallen victim to the nightmare king, too weak to resist, and the Hangman was- The Hangman was- He’d tried to reach out to his bike, and apologize. It hadn’t worked. Whether the Hangman was unable to answer, or just didn’t want to speak to him, he didn’t know. 

He looked up as Cathilda entered, carrying a bowl of hot soup she had produced somehow.

“Master Fabian, I’ve brought you some soup. Drink it while it’s hot.” Cathilda was looking at him strangely. There was pity in her eyes, and something else. Like she knew exactly what was going on in his head.  
She patted him on the shoulder kindly, and he shrank away from her. He deserves neither sympathy nor hot soup. She sighed, and he wished she’d go away. He didn’t need to be coddled. The hot heavy feeling of failure in his chest wouldn’t go away, and it was worse when Cathilda was trying to be kind to him. Here was a person who seemed to know what to do. She couldn’t possibly understand the magnitude of his failure, of his shame. Cathilda started to say something and decided against it. Instead, she patted him on the shoulder and turned to leave. 

“Did my father ever have a day like this? Was he ever such a coward?” He asked, desperately, grasping for something to justify himself. She turned, and if she was surprised, she didn’t show it. God, why couldn’t he keep quiet. Of course his father never had a day like this. Fabian was unique only in his weakness and cowardice. 

“Oh, my darling boy.” The sadness in her eyes wouldn’t go away. She sat down next to the Fabian shaped lump of blankets. He couldn’t bring himself to meet her eyes. 

“Your father was a great man. There’s no denying that.” Cathilda said, and she kept looking at him in that strange way. They sat in silence for a minute, before Fabian burst into speech. He had to explain to her, to make her understand why he was such a stupid fuck-up. 

“So you’re saying he never did. He’d never be such a worthless-” Fabian was not crying. Pirates don’t cry. The wetness on his cheeks and the lump in his throat were an unfortunate side effect of his illness, that was all. 

“That’s not what I’m saying. Now listen to me.” Fabian fell silent once again, and Cathilda continued. 

“Your father was a great man, but,” And she paused as if daring Fabian to interject.”He was not a wise man, and he certainly wasn’t a kind one.” Fabian, out of habit, more than anything, started to defend him.

“Papa, Cathilda, was the greatest man to ever live, and if you think-”

“Hush! Master Fabian, it doesn’t matter if your father did have a day like this.” She seemed exasperated now, and who could blame her. She was wasting her time talking to him. 

“I don’t know what it is you did, but those were your choices, not your father’s.” She was staring at him intensely, and Fabian remembered in a flash that Cathilda used to be a pirate. Her gaze was as steely and unwavering as his fathers. 

“Yes.” She looked at the pain in his eyes, and something softened.

“You had a bad day, you made a mistake or many mistakes, but you can try to make that right. I was not unlike Bill Seacaster in my glory days, and now look at me.”

“You’re a maid.” Was Cathilda suggesting he become a maid? 

“And I’m happy. I’m a better person now.” She smiled. Cathilda took pride in her work. She knew she was good at it, and he respected that. 

“You do make excellent kippers.”  


“That I do.” Cathilda put a comforting arm around his shoulders, and he stiffened but didn’t pull away. 

“I can’t make this right for you. But I truly hope you use this day. There’s no shame in not being your father.” Fabian was quiet as a grave. What she was saying was ridiculous. He was Fabian Aramais Seacaster. Heir to the Seacaster name. Destined to be the greatest pirate who ever sailed. Without that, he was nothing. Just the boy who led twenty men to their deaths, who stabbed the only creature who would have stood by him. 

“Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Bringing me soup and blankets and the like. You don’t have to. I don’t think maid law applies here.” Cathilda snorted at that. 

“I’m going to make sure you’re alright, even if you screwed up. Understand?” Her voice was less that of the kind caretaker, and more like a captain asking something of his crew. 

“Understood.” He made himself sound strong and in control, like a real pirate. 

“Now, you drink your soup, and stay warm.” She produced another blanket, seemingly from nowhere, and wrapped it round his shoulders. 

“I will. Thank you.” She smiled at him and left the warm pocket of the moonhaven. He was alone, and he still felt like shit, but Cathilda was standing by him, and Fabian didn’t know many people he’d rather have by his side.

**Author's Note:**

> I've decided arbitrarily that the physical space of the moonhaven remains even when the protection of the spell has worn off. That's not canon, but it worked for the sake of this fic. Also, this is set right after Fabian's No-Good-Very-Bad-Day, when the Bad Kids were going to see Ayda.


End file.
